Brian Holmes
Major Brian Gregory Holmes (born October 7th, 2522) is a SPARTAN-IV Field grade officer of the UNSC Spartan branch. His Career Service Rank (CSR) is 35. He is a veteran of the Human-Covenant War, having served in the UNSC Army as an Airborne Pathfinder in the latter years of the conflict. Following its formation as an independent service, Holmes volunteered for the Spartans on January 4th 2553. By late March 2553, Holmes was physically augmented and biologically enhanced to become a fourth-generation Spartan supersoldier. Holmes was initially assigned to the Alpha-1 Division, acting as "security" for remotely deployed personnel and agents of the Office of Naval Intelligence. After participating in the defense of Draetheus V during the post-war Human-Covenant conflicts, he was transferred to the UNSC Infinity during its second deployment to the Forerunner shield world "Requiem" as Fireteam Crimson's team-leader. Biography Early Life Brian Holmes was born and raised on Actium, a major UEG agricultural colony, to a family of four. His father, Jason Holmes, was an employee for Guardian LLC., a subsidiary company to COBB Industries, who provided security for the corporation's merchant trade system. Due to frequent absences from his father, Brian and his two brothers (Erick and Geoffrey Holmes) helped their mother, Stephani Holmes, maintain their large homestead alone, utilizing JOTUN heavy machinery in cultivation and farming. Due to the ongoing conflict with the Covenant (which had become more widely known by the 2530's) Holmes and his family grew many vasts "victory gardens" in support of the UNSC's war effort. Because of this, his family received regular pensions from the local colonial government, who bought many of their yielded crops and assorted meats. With their accumulated wealth, Jason Holmes was able to retire early on and re-integrate himself back into the family. The Holmes eventually moved to the more sprawling precincts of Actium, eventually settling down in one of the suburban districts of Stratos, the colony's capital. Military Enlistment The UNSC had maintained a sizable force on and around Actium, having Army garrisons stationed on the colony at Fort Commons near the planet's capital. Due to their heavy presence on the planet, the ideologies of the UNSC weighed heavily on Brian's views of the UNSC. As such he was morally obligated to serve in the military when the time came. He enlisted in the UNSC Army on December 1st, 2541 at the age of 18. He was sent off-planet to the colony world of Tantalus in the Epsilon Eridani system to undergo 11 weeks of basic military training at a remote Army training base designated as "Leveled Grounds". From there, Brian volunteered for the Army Airborne and was sent to Reach to complete an additional 4 weeks of BAHT (Basic Airborne & High-atmospheric Training). He soon attended Pathfinder school after meeting the necessary physical and skill-set requirements. By 2542, Holmes was attached to the 1st Airborne Battalion, 442nd Strategic Response Force (SRF), a subordinate unit to the famed 502nd Infantry Brigade. Human-Covenant War Holmes served a total of 9 combat tours with the UNSC Army. Having performed 46 high-aerial drops from 7 different colony worlds. In 2545, Holmes participated in his home-planet's defense against a Covenant invasion force. While protecting refugees evacuating from a space port, Holmes and a number of men from his unit, including soldiers from the colonial militia, fought and held-off Covenant attacks while civilian transports lifted off to safety. As a result, Holmes received the Silver Star for his actions as well as the Purple Heart for receiving a plasma burn to his right leg. When Reach fell in August 2552, Holmes was stationed on Tribute when the Covenant began its invasion of the Epsilon Eridani System. Before the attack began an element from the 442nd was deployed to reinforce Army and Marine units against civilian uprisings from the People's Occupation group. When the Covenant invaded, Holmes fought within the city of Trident, an ocean port city, with a task of maintaining the city's COM. network. He later witnessed the destruction of the planet's capital, Casbah, from a Darter transport while evacuating the planet. When the Covenant invaded Earth and the Sol system on October 20th, 2552, Holmes and his Airborne unit repelled several Covenant boarding parties from an ONI orbital facility high over Los Angeles. After securing the large station, Holmes personally took command of his platoon after the lieutenant was killed in action. Manually utilizing the station's defense network, including several auto-cannons, Holmes and his men had managed to protect a nearby repair and refit station for 52 hours as UNSC warships, including a cruiser, were hastily repaired to fight the invading Covenant fleet. For this action, Brian Holmes would be awarded the UNSC's highest military decoration, the Legion of Honor, one month later. A short-time afterwards, Holmes and his men participated in Operation: SUNBURST, a joint UNSC military operation that sought to re-take the mega-city of Los Angeles from it's Covenant occupiers. In order to spear-head the operation, the 442nd were tasked in securing one of Los Angele's last surviving orbital space tethers. They were supported by ONI security personnel fielding the MJOLNIR/Orbital PAA variant. The completion of their objective allowed the UNSC Defense Force to utilize the space elevator to transport troops and supplies to the ground in a rapid pace. By November 5th, Holmes and his unit saw action against Covenant-Loyalists in the California political district of the United Republic of North America. Spartan Training and Augmentation By mid-December 2552, ONI Section 3 pooled a list of candidate-volunteers from various UNSC service branches for Project JAVELIN, a research cell that tested and utilized resources for the next class of Spartans. By January 4th, 2553, Holmes and many others were taken to an ONI sub-site designated as Facility Gamma-Bravo, located deep in the Appalachian mountains of North America, for induction and training. Training for Holmes and his fellow Spartans lasted for 16 weeks. By March 23rd, Holmes had successfully undergone the project's augmentation procedures as well as other biological and cybernetic enhancements to become a fully operational fourth-generation SPARTAN. The following weeks saw the participation of many simulated combat scenarios, dubbed "War Games", against other Spartans. Holmes initial Skill Rating (SR), or performance, during training was 24, with the score increasing steadily throughout his career. Post-War insurgency Immediately after his training, Holmes was assigned to the Alpha-1 Division as part of the group's security detail. In actuality, Holmes operated as a field agent for Section 1 of the Office of Naval Intelligence, and often worked in conjunction with the Special Activities Division under Section 3. Missions conducted were often clandestine in nature and were executed in the utmost secrecy. Human-Covenant conflicts :-Defense of Draetheus V. :-Deployed to Forerunner shield-world, designated "Requiem", as part of Fireteam Crimson aboard UNSC Infinity. Armor and Equipment -MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor - Enforcer -MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor - Infiltrator Category:SPARTAN-IV